Catalyst
by AC Mae
Summary: Tim and Stephanie have had their ups and downs, but lately things have been so distant between the two of them; much to Stephanie's discontent.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is inspired by the song ****_Catalyst_**** by Anna Nalick. It's also set in the same universe as Alleybat's Matter of Opinion. It's not necessary to read it to get the story but Steph does allude to it talking about Cass. Anyway I hope you enjoy Tim and Steph are my favorites! **

The air hung heavy with death. Below, police officers carefully combed the alleyway for any leads they could find. This was the third victim in 2 months and still every lead went nowhere. Stephanie wondered what the poor girl's last moments must have been like, how scared she must have empathy was heightened by the fact that all of the victims were blonde.

"It's strange, this one is a bit out of the usual area." A familiar voice said, coming up behind her. She smiled, it'd been awhile since she'd gotten a chance to talk to Tim.

"It is." She watched him kneel down next to her, his face expressionless behind the cowl. "Any theories on why that is, Dr. Mid-nite?"

"I'm not sure. I'd have to go and compare the locations of all the crime scenes and track his pattern. I need to see if our guy-"

"Okay, Okay!" She cut him off. "I get it. You gotta go be Boy Detective."

He didn't even look at her. _What is wrong with him_? she thought. He'd never been the most sociable, that much was true. But recently he had become so distant, she rarely saw him except when there was a case. When they talked it felt like they were strangers. It made her miss their days of being Spoiler and Robin. At this point she'd probably do anything to go back to those days of beating up guys twice their size, sharing a midnight snack on the roof, then stealing kisses under the Gotham city lights.

She studied the bit of his face she could see beneath the cowl. He was thinking hard, studying the scene and remembering all the evidence. He was cute when he was in detective mode.

"You know, it's been awhile since we've had a chance to hang out. Just the two of us." She wanted those days back, and now might be her only chance to try. She'd be damned if she was letting it slip away.

It got him to look at her at least. "Steph... do you really think now is the time for this?"

"Why not? It's the only time you talk to me." She stood up, placing her hands on her hips.

He followed her lead, standing up and facing her. "Listen it's not that I don't want to talk to you it's just that-" he looked away from her. "It looks like the police are done down there. I should go see what I can find." He dropped the subject like a hot potato.

She watched him swing down to the streets. Why was she even trying? He obviously didn't care, so why should she? She seemed to be asking herself that a lot lately and it never took long for her to find the answer. She missed him. She missed what they had. The nights she would find him outside her window, his corny puns, or the way he chewed on his lip when he was concentrating deeply. Maybe she was holding on too tightly to the past. She was just going to have to accept the fact that they weren't those kids anymore. It broke her heart just thinking about it.

"Batgirl, Red Robin. I have some information regarding your case." Barbara's voice rang in her ear.

"Alright." She replied. "I'm on my way."

"So, what do you have for us Barbara?" Tim asked as the two of them walked into her base of operations.

Barbara smiled. "We've got some footage of our most recent victim with a man just a little while before the time of death."

"To be fair." Stephanie commented while watching the footage. "Just some footage of the two of them together isn't enough to incriminate him."

"No," Barbara agreed. "but there is more. I identified him as Joshua Lewis." She pulled up a map of Gotham with the three crime scenes marked. "He lives here." she pointed to a place near the first two crime scenes.

"Interesting." Tim said under his breath.

"And" Barbara continued "He recently bought a one way plane ticket to Los Angeles, leaving only hours after the most recent murder occurred."

"And this one is on the way to the airport from his apartment." Tim pointed out.

"Right." Barbara nodded. "It is true though. It's not enough to convict him of." Barbara turned to look at the two of them. "Dick is going to check out his apartment, but for now I think we need someone to go and keep an eye on him."

"So you want us to fly out to LA?" Stephanie didn't mind that idea, even if it was for business.

"I think one of us could handle him on their own, we don't really need both of us-"

"Oh no you don't." Stephanie cut him off. "You're just trying to find some way to avoid me." She wasn't entirely sure if that was really what he was doing, but she had had it. He wasn't talking to her and she didn't care why.

"I'm not trying to..." He trailed off.

"Why have you been acting so strangely lately? Damnit between you and Cass." Stephanie crossed her arms. "At least Cass has an excuse, I think seeing that little girl die got to her."

"You're right." Tim didn't look at her, and she got the feeling she shouldn't have said that. "I don't have an excuse."

"Anyway..." Barbara said before Stephanie could respond. "You're both going. End of discussion."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and Favorited. I enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoyed reading. **

Stephanie waited while Tim checked them into the hotel where they were staying. The plane ride had been a long 5 hours of painful silence interrupted only by awkward small talk.

"It's looks like they only got us one room." Tim said handing her a key.

"I guess they are trying to have us attract the least amount of attention as possible." She offered.

"Most likely." He replied, grabbing his suitcase. "I guess we should get ready to track this guy down huh?"

She nodded and followed him up to the room.

It wasn't the greatest of hotels, she had to remind herself it was because they were there on business and they didn't want to attract attention.

"I'm going to jump in the shower before we head out." Tim said, setting his phone on the table.

She nodded at him while arranging her things. She had only heard the shower going for a few minutes when she heard his phone ring. She looked at the caller ID so she could tell him who called. 'Dr. Brenden' glowed across the screen. Why is a doctor calling Tim? she thought. She wondered if she should answer it in case it was important or if it was too personal and none of her business. This only lasted a brief moment before she panicked and answered it anyway.

"Hello?" She said quickly.

"Oh, is Mr. Drake there?" a female voice said on the other end.

"He's in the shower..." She said, noting how it sounded. "I can take a message for you."

"Just tell him to call me back to schedule a follow up appointment, I want to see how his prescription is working."

"Will do." Stephanie mind was racing._ What prescription? Was Tim sick?_ The doctor thanked her and they hung up. She set his phone down as if it were a bomb, jumping when she heard the shower turn off. She knew she shouldn't have answered his phone, and now she was going to have to tell him that this doctor called.

"Are you okay?" he asked her coming out of the bathroom. She figured her face must have been giving away her panic.

"A 'Dr. Brenden' called you." She said quickly. "She wants you to call her back to schedule a follow up appointment to see how the prescription is working."

"Wait-" A look of panic spread across his face. _"You answered my phone?_"

"I'm sorry, I panicked!" She said desperately. "but what is this prescription she was talking about? Are you okay?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it!" He was practically yelling now. "I can't believe you answered my phone!"

"Look, I know, I'm really sorry." She hated herself. "I saw it was a doctor and I was worried it was important!" She watched him pace around. "If it was prescribed doesn't that mean it's important? Especially if one needs a follow up appointment? Please Tim, if something's wrong talk to me. You have so many people who love you, you don't have to go through anything alone!"

Tim just shook his head. "_You don't understand_." He said coldly. He laughed hollowly. "Love is just a chemical reaction isn't it? Well it's my chemicals that got me into this problem in the first place."

Stephanie stared at him in shock. _Love is just a chemical reaction._ That's not something she'd ever expected to hear come out of his mouth. They stood there with mutual frustration, though Tim wouldn't even look at her. She couldn't take it, she was on the verge of tears and had to get out of there. She left, slamming the door behind her.

She hadn't even noticed how far she'd walked until she found she had no idea where she was anymore. It was night and she stopped to take in the glow of the city._ Why am I mad?_ she thought suddenly._ I'm the one who answered his phone. I'm the one who probed him about something that's probably personal._ She felt tears welling up behind her eyes and she ducked into an alleyway out of sight. She hated herself. It wasn't that Tim wasn't trying, but that she didn't help anything.

"What's the matter, _gorgeous_?" A low voice said behind her. The tone in which he said gorgeous made her want to puke. She spun around and nearly gasped. The owner of the voice was was none other than Joshua Lewis.

_How convenient to just happen to run into the man we're looking for._ Although she wished she had run into him as Batgirl, and not a girl crying in an alley._ How am I going to play this?_ She thought. She backed up slowly, they may not have definite proof he was a killer, but this was more than enough proof that he was a creep.

She noticed a movement up on the roof above her._ At least I don't have to worry about him catching me off guard_, she thought. He was definitely getting closer than she wanted him to, normally she would break his arm, but she needed to see what he'd do.

Things happened quickly from there, Joshua went to grab her but she moved away before he could. Getting assaulted or killed was not on her to do list. She saw a dark figure drop down from the roof above and heard Tim's Bo staff make contact with Joshua's neck, knocking him out. Tim was in full Red Robin gear and looked slightly panicked.

"Are... you okay?" He asked softly. She wanted to hug him and apologize for everything, but she held back.

"Yes. Thanks to you." She replied in almost a whisper. He knelt down and put handcuffs on their man.

"Right after you left Barbara called, she said Dick found some pretty incriminating evidence at his apartment." He stood back up. "I called the LA police and told him he was here."

"I guess you should get outta here, Mister Vigilante." She crossed her arms.

"Maybe you should come with me." He said hesitantly. "We have a lot we need to talk about."

She smiled and he grabbed her and pulled the two of them on the roof.

"Look, I'm really sorry about answering your phone." She began as soon as they climbed up. "I know, there's no excuse."

He was silent for a long while, and Stephanie wondered if he'd ever forgive her.

"I've been diagnosed... with depression." He said finally. Suddenly Stephanie remembered everything she's said to him, and how every single one of those things were probably the worst thing she could've said and she hated herself even more.

"Oh my god." She covered her mouth with her hands. "I've been such a _bitch_!"

"Stephanie, no you-"

"NO!" She stopped him, "I am so sorry, I have said so many things to you that I shouldn't have. I had no idea what you could have been going through."

"Stephanie, it's really okay." He said quietly.

"No, it's really not." She countered. "You have every right to hate me."

"I could never hate you, Steph." He looked at her.

"Just please, Tim." She touched his arm. "Don't go through this alone. You have so many people that love you... _I love you_."

"I'm a bat, I'm not supposed to feel this way." He sighed.

"_You're human_!" She said. "You can feel the same way as any other human."

"But I'm-"

"You're not different!" She read his thoughts, grabbing his face. "Listen, Tim. This does not make you weak, if anything acknowledging the fact that you need help is a _strength_! Please! Stop trying to take these things on all on your own! Stop trying to bottle everything up!."

"What do I say to everyone?" He asked.

"I don't know, just tell them the truth. They won't think any less of you." She said. "And just know, I will always be there for you if you need me. You don't even need to ask."

"Thank you, Steph." He said, pulling her into a hug.

**A/N: I'm sorry if I got something wrong about him and his depression, it's something that I've only ever had experience with from and observers point of view. I tried to make him act the right way but I could have easily got something wrong. Again, I apologize if I got something wrong.**


End file.
